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Medical marijuana advocates plead with lawmakers

Advocates of medical marijuana returned to Frankfort on Wednesday, pleading with legislators to legalize medicinal use of marijuana, which they say can treat a range of ailments, including symptoms of cancer.

FRANKFORT, Ky. – Eric Crawford held up a plastic bag filled with dozens of prescription medications that he uses to treat lingering pain from a car accident along with a myriad of other health conditions.

"My life is a struggle of constant nerve pain, ungodly muscle spasms, extreme stiffness, arthritis, chronic urinary track infections," said Crawford, a quadriplegic. "If I could legally use medical cannabis, I would not need any narcotics."

Advocates of medical marijuana, like Crawford, returned to Frankfort on Wednesday, pleading with legislators to legalize medicinal use of the plant, which they say can treat a range of ailments, including symptoms of cancer.

The General Assembly enacted a measure this year that allows trial use of marijuana oil to treat seizures in children even though two other bills to permit medical marijuana in Kentucky died in committee.

Critics, including many legislators, have charged that medical use of the drug is not supported by scientific evidence and ultimately leads to recreational abuse and illegal trafficking under the guise of medicine.

But Jamie Montalvo, president of Kentuckians for Medical Marijuana, said lawmakers are more supportive of the concept in private and that he hopes legislation will advance further next year.

Montalvo, who suffers from multiple sclerosis, said he is tired of his limited options: agonizing in pain, using opiates or breaking the law.

"Thousands of Kentucky citizens are tired of it as well," he said. "We are tired of losing our rights, we are tired of being called felons, we are tired of being forced to be criminals."

Proponents of the drug spoke with lawmakers on the joint House and Senate Health and Welfare Committee for nearly an hour Wednesday, testifying that marijuana provides a cheaper and more effective alternative to many prescription drugs that often produce harsh side effects.

Oliver Olson, a registered nurse practitioner, argued that marijuana is one of the most studied drugs and is irreplaceable in its medical applications. "The safety and efficacy of it for me is without question."

One speaker, Tori Burgin, told the panel that marijuana helped her husband — who sat weeping in the background — regain his appetite and reduce pain amid his fight with terminal cancer.

But some legislators indicated that medical marijuana still faces an uphill climb in the General Assembly.

Sen. Julie Denton, chair of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee and sponsor of this year's cannabis oil bill, said lawmakers want to see more scientific data on the issue and the state still has challenges with federal laws that prohibit the drug.

"It's going to take time for people to feel comfortable making a decision on this one way of the other," she said.

Reporter Mike Wynn can be reached at (502) 875-5136. Follow him on Twitter at @MikeWynn_CJ.